Sri Lanka is set to hold its presidential election on Saturday, with 38 candidates competing for the highest office in the debt-laden South Asian nation.
Here’s an overview of the key steps in the election process, which allows 17.1 million eligible Sri Lankans to vote for their next president, who will serve a five-year term.
Nominations
The election commission accepted nominations from 39 candidates, including the incumbent, Ranil Wickremesinghe. One candidate, however, has since passed away.
Campaign Rallies For Presidential Election
Official campaigning commenced following the election commission’s approval of the candidates. Wickremesinghe held his first rally on August 17 in the historic city of Anuradhapura, marking the beginning of nearly 100 rallies he plans to conduct. His main competitors also organized numerous rallies.
End of Campaigning
Campaigning officially concluded at midnight on Wednesday, 48 hours prior to election day.
Number of Eligible Voters For Presidential Election
More than 17 million voters are eligible to participate, with approximately 1 million being first-time voters.
Sri Lanka Presidential Election Process
Sri Lanka employs a first-past-the-post electoral system, allowing voters to select up to three candidates. The candidate who receives at least 50% of the votes will be declared the winner. If no candidate achieves this threshold in the first round, a run-off will be held between the top two candidates. For the first time in four decades, there could be a second round of voting due to the tight competition among the frontrunners.
Voting and Counting
Voting will take place at thousands of polling stations under strict security measures. Government employees will count the votes after polling closes, with oversight from Election Commission officials, election monitors, and candidate representatives. Voting hours are from 7 am local time (0130 GMT) until 4 pm (1030 GMT), with counting expected to begin shortly after.
Declaration of Presidential Election Results
The Election Commission is likely to announce the winner on Sunday. The elected candidate will typically take the presidential oath on the same day and appoint a new cabinet of ministers.
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